Originally Posted by
onehitwonder
REX - ATR went to Wagga probably some 6-12 months ago to check out Rex's facilities and discuss 42's but it was a 10 year plan
Corporate - Not hearing good numbers out of Dubbo (4 in 7 out on one day) or Wol (14 in, 13 out)
Pelican - Quiet achiever
Skytrans - Kicking a few goals
Sharp - Quiet achiever
Rex have always said the SAAB has another 10-15 years of life left in it. If you look at their planning that’s what they’re expecting. Eg Sim in Wagga, investment in spares from the US etc. They also have created a replacement LCD screen for the old CRT EFIS screens as they’re getting very hard to find these days. The fact they operate 50+ airframes gives them sufficient scale to develop cheap solutions as any problems arise.
If Corporate can’t make Dubbo or WLG work it’s cause their fares are to expensive. WLG in particular has Sydney just up the road. You’ll find there will be a limit to the ‘price premium’ people will pay to avoid driving to/from Sydney. QantasLink and AirNorth have the same issue with their services ex Wellcamp.
Fly Pelican should be able to last a long time. There’s always been a market for 19 seat flights around various parts of NSW. Aeropelican, Impulse, Masling, Rex, Brindabella all operated similar routes. As long as they don’t waste money or try and get to big they’ll be ok!
Skytrans ‘kicking a few goals’ ???!!! Hahaha that’s got to be the best joke I’ve heard in a while. Look at what they started with when West Wing bought the assets and look at the scraps that are left now... Many problems with U/S aircraft. Also Rex are lurking in the background waiting to pick up extra work in FNQ.
Sharp: see the comment about Fly Pelican. Similar operation, tight margins but should be able to stick around with good management.
Also worth keeping in mind is the fact that Viking now own all the plans to the complete De Haviland series including the Dash 8 100->400. I would almost be tempted to put money on them bringing out a redesigned 100/200 in the next 10 years just as all the current models of ‘classic’ Dash 8’s get too old and expensive to operate (plus the SAAB/Brasilia etc). That’s exactly what they’ve done with the Twin Otter.